New Interface for Google Takeout

<a href="https://www.google.com/settings/takeout">Google Takeout</a> has a new interface. It's easier to pick the services you want to include in an archive and you can now store archives in Google Drive. <br /><br />"After we finish creating your archive, we will add your archive to Drive and email you a link to its location. These archives will count against your storage quota," informs Google.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbpK7CAYOBpyVO0yWk3MiabH_JIm08LS435snQoJeV3-ikbD-7ODYLkXrxMqbzKxPytFo5yZbTGCK2W4LWGoRnF6jboLHhhwji3m-2KT0R6wWw05te4V5vc9xo6v09S1erhfwUQxfVTGfg/s1600/takeout-new-ui.png" /></div><br />Some services let you select the data you want to export: Gmail labels, calendars, Google Drive folders, Blogger blogs, Google+ photo albums, books.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnKSnsDj-_mNrknVr2-NfnUae4ZKyiRZEhXXu7XIxQ2erZuPs0MdKAMGUYCrdTCR7pTFmL9RctqXKdliXtTAr1njKvmMWZ1ryqpyPwQCbVWoRZGjcvf7ORv50AIRxKPAG56hj2QIu83o9G/s1600/takeout-new-ui-2.png" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCX_4Y5Nl2iAnfqL0doFT4uvxEX-5DFDZeFO9ROSV_Ljg2TcctfHFNvz8_rm4LL3w0Fb16pngMRux5CP1Winl-YkhMkhn2jy7YiNCKRkxLXOqzlwoWWsNFGSrUx3ReMj0Ft_O4FInZLgs_/s1600/google-takeout-new-ui-5.png" /></div><br />Google can create a download link that expires after a month or save the archive in Google Drive.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2TP8bYUJcXoJWswc6zQuYHZ-8gDLmhmSn5MxS2hZlbc2GFb3-UBOqhOF6iKrSRcy3f7F8XNqklcK9V0AxVjeK83svOXg9QZIfKPzkp-7CUXcjhqFq3NxSG4pFM8Nw8FdUh46IwEZH2rfp/s1600/takeout-new-ui-3.png" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyrWVM6RPU70QQ6kVDEiAQM2sw01Yi2VsAQqo8SwKA07T7IUtm9yZfb4iBU6ObHx-pa6fel4Hc6_hRWRiGo8mwJLw8nUDMPsNHmQPH3U414SnKXi8ll8zZM2cUBihCTARsaabnoTAsrM2t/s1600/takeout-new-ui-4.png" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif7FCjmkYEogAdYCVjwCDr-qrUNDj7nRcFuIi0gcLn5-4qUYKsMCROE-KYOSEreIexr9z3L4onHFvLQkjsNRdiiLjJuiyWVG52ihrpOUTPEl4bHgrRO0a6uISB1QJ-bb8bDnpM6m3qRM4E/s1600/google-takeout-new-ui-6.png" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOB-lEu_Q3hq9zkxljN3smb-HBnQq-WcF0-VkoGj12lLd60R5uC6TzJzUDB5FlLkL7NPVEGV5n1AoT_Eiktu2IOiNOazTAEdqkySWMVESwAE6fpZo1UnHRKjXOw6FDQeSi3itv0go_dhjS/s1600/google-takeout-new-ui-7.png" /></div><br />Imagine exporting your data, saving the archive to Google Drive and then exporting your data again. This time, you'll also export the archive you've previously created. It's a good idea to exclude the Takeout folder from Drive, which stores your Takeout archives.<br /><br />{ Thanks, <a href="https://plus.google.com/+FlorianKiersch">Florian Kiersch</a>. }

New Interface for Google Takeout

Google Takeout has a new interface. It's easier to pick the services you want to include in an archive and you can now store archives i...

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Mobile IE Doesn't Show Google Suggestions

If you've changed the search provider to Google in Internet Explorer for Windows Phone and you're wondering why search suggestions aren't that great, there's an explanation: Internet Explorer shows suggestions from Bing even if you're using Google.<br /><br />Let's say I type in the address bar: "the best way to". Here are the suggestions:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ww7aYG50bP16BKct0UgLX7RUADWuZbkxEkXOBDycI24lCeBjIKF1GXNhujiDEF9MFNVuoat1mjmfVm0bqgwAmX3Fio2fkOvyAt1hTF0sCDdik7azL0owmfdG-i2U0AyolavoI8vKpmnI/s1600/windows-phone-bing-suggestions.jpg" /></div><br />And here are Google's suggestions:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNufGTDmuZs7BxIFFrXz2aew-9D_AFZhKiF8NuV2_KNxqoi2FmxaWFz30Xddh4IInx-XWN-lfocQASg0CKJN_h7DcWXQb9xbXAk-8zpQoRMFAOh5V-v0oyGOi3DixP2mvKLoSem2zcENx9/s1600/windows-phone-google-suggestions.jpg" /></div><br />If you go to IE's advanced settings, you'll notice that you can enable or disable "get suggestions from Bing as I type". To get Google's suggestions, you can go to google.com, install Google's app for Windows Phone or install a different browser.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8eHP7Nb22upX892ZYkYWZHpIi_MSoLPp7MlG0U7DjVYtInq4cioVJlr1P_pYiUek7b_LoWc1lpzgok3poKUlXIb5JAJ-r8p-mDhNcF60TigbrTyCwLi23s0J-8bZRM3Rpb84080Awn8JJ/s1600/windows-phone-ie-settings.jpg" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0zRQX8q7MQLFaYcn0kVmCiZi7iwxw7WGxJDvD6TKwcVYC-vrLWJAVnGsr4hzKUWfXBWOV1eElUOCD-ofltT_VwirG70_YrZlGuGnZzqBeEZiGv6ZToo0-AEcT61Cwp_2RbpTR-QXuNHhA/s1600/windows-phone-ie-settings-2.jpg" /></div><br />So why would Microsoft show Bing suggestions if you've changed your search provider to Google? Maybe it's an excuse for Microsoft to send all your queries and partial queries to Bing, so that it can improve its search engine.<br /><br /><b>Update</b>. Hadrien Zero-Un has an explanation in the comments: "Internet Explorer for Windows Phone can't have Google as a search engine. BUT Nokia modified the browser to allow the change of the search [engine]."

Mobile IE Doesn't Show Google Suggestions

If you've changed the search provider to Google in Internet Explorer for Windows Phone and you're wondering why search suggestions a...

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Google Structured Snippets

A few weeks ago, I noticed that <a href="http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2014/09/inline-facts-next-to-google-search.html">Google shows facts</a> next to some Wikipedia results. This feature is called <a href="http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2014/09/introducing-structured-snippets-now.html">Structured Snippets</a> and it's not limited to Wikipedia results.<br /><br />"Structured Snippets is a new feature that incorporates facts into individual result snippets in Web Search. As seen in the example below, interesting and relevant information is extracted from a page and displayed as part of the snippet for the query [<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=nikon+d7100">nikon d7100</a>]," informs Google.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7XeGGRLDjlLh6GQSuEHoMphgCgABkDQ3yU_v9DSO7LBF_rtFPH4hEzCn07pWh_TLb1Ck5qAUg3lgFtubLgQREv-n4-2wJ1qej5EAjKDAd2x92KrjtvnFsN64Ob9m2lIXNbI94ahxkqv4l/s1600/structured-snippets.png" /></div><br />"Structured Snippets is the latest collaboration between Google Research and the Web Search team employing that data to seamlessly provide the most relevant information to the user. We use machine learning techniques to distinguish data tables on the Web from uninteresting tables, e.g., tables used for formatting web pages. We also have additional algorithms to determine quality and relevance that we use to display up to four highly ranked facts from those data tables," mentions <a href="http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2014/09/introducing-structured-snippets-now.html">the Google Research blog</a>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Z7tNbb8ySuyQ9tjb7lydP-ewpOJzdAK5Ac0fg32LI0PCvKuM5MgDD_HfOgMGKCspufEoxyaLrYPZP3C9uitn6yZ3NggwarWW3lQFlwZHpGwxUq0XoHIrxPKZ9PS9WKOOiGQOXcj29Jlk/s1600/structured-snippets-2.png" /></div><br />You don't need special formatting: Google extracts information from existing tables. It's interesting to notice that Google has always used tables from web pages to extract useful data. <a href="http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/03/google-sets-search-engine-for-lists.html">Google Sets</a>, one of the earliest Google Labs services, used lists and tables from web pages to generate lists of related terms. Google also built <a href="http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2013/05/google-table-search.html">a search engine for tables</a> and shows data from tables in <a href="http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2014/06/tables-in-google-knowledge-graph-cards.html">cards</a> and <a href="http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2011/11/table-snippets-in-google-search.html">snippets</a>.

Google Structured Snippets

A few weeks ago, I noticed that Google shows facts next to some Wikipedia results. This feature is called Structured Snippets and it's...

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Obscure Google Maps Results

When you add "google maps" or "map" to a Google query related to a location, it's likely that you'll see a Google Maps card. For example, searching for [<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=google+maps+bop">google maps bop</a>], [<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=map+bop">map bop</a>] or [<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=bop+map">bop map</a>] returns a map for the Bouar Airport (BOP) from the Central African Republic.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLX6I1Dpxnbf4iddwSdX3URYIcFxAPvAyEi7_5lNNROrK_fjQMQjmel5sN9ePV3vcYRljrbVXPsDWKraovMTvOrmQralO7q_VJIMLCsx8X_AaF4TI_KFegf9-_1zMBN0LlVWd5J9MnS86d/s1600/map-bop.png" /></div><br />Sometimes this feature doesn't work very well. I searched for [<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=google%20maps%20location%20history">google maps location history</a>] and Google returned this map for Location History Collection, a museum from Hungary that appears to be permanently closed. It's obvious that the Google Maps Location History page is more important and should be displayed first.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwAkLj1Ytd7mE_Pi2Dgt4HmCwZcWAiil5SAEvUFaZIeZyBB2pwhH-U-hRPUQl8wMI2voOaWBLO65rQ9OZCdWF1w0yOS6ws1yzQif7M6A2229Bz4qXyZIlOEB9pnCyIowSqXOQVg5bJvRS5/s1600/google-location-history.png" /></div><br />What about [<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=google+maps+2014">google maps 2014</a>]?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZagJaoTTebXnIDMpSJr2x6W8JbMXydBK8d-K6boQ50bdn88zFh3ZRHpXR4rf1h7UMjIHC-bMx8Z2D8yn86sAp1aO6MP9R9Txxxu51Inf4a4_wprWSZORr03XW6Fmf8khge7F2JUSkLkLc/s1600/google-maps-result-2014.png" /></div><br />And it's not just about Hungary.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE-Xq43HphJH_hWBzg6jEOmvNCRVNmVukkRKVzv0tWb1wZWIv8_i0SIAVKZ6DeEBlSQSBmnBLHMFjJTMXMK7ffqQRiFJBCjQ7Ir4kt1n7l_URaCH6FeuS9S5bMwitsfLPA21L5bNmnBpBT/s1600/google-maps-results-2012.png" /></div><br />There's even a map for Street View:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha08TA2x5o_hScziqzoCkRKDKaNnIkhMeyvZQcXbdsvegci_5HoG71pOPEmV2R7NJqoA-KzBMeQDvYugjUvSoMvzrMySC6fI1Q95XmgLk9RJyWbzJ2pSdE3clzOYLlpc5s2XsCfEmtlhNV/s1600/google-maps-result-street-view.png" /></div><br />And maps for "distance" and "navigation":<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfbP6C-V-6BN6UhxpqkZkTMPcz8Mq3Q7nfr1cCWIUAn92b4xHCSQlwRX853CDVehKe8-hSTaGxSexzRg65lKOOhbptQIe2JbjiPOdD1ooKEy5eBJnoAvyfvDbzCncO-1FUSeP6Z2wCcL-a/s1600/google-maps-results-distance.png" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4iJ2Bm73peah6ZfYCGXoIk4hrbqE7lE4re5YkBaGeo_EHgZj00Elx5qpBk7Z_7Tg4hj7PE5uaw9B4qTCj3MyYNJ4LMH0GWQEh9PFUdPstrPbHwAzaubZLmYx4eQ3T71eYE8QdB2zBqsQN/s1600/google-maps-navigation.png" /></div><br />Even Larry Page has a Google Maps card.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg7YCoe6rc5HaKJiNdHZL0va46fwQLmivPp1ZuFsixYZTwzV-BkEk7M_1dUC-S4mCjGjKpqPdi7jHnqgDOB0DpSuN1Q2d50G6xMrcaPagNQvh06gk6ZEETsIEtEZ4wk7FzqyKViaYofv9X/s1600/google-maps-results-larry-page.png" /></div><br />Android too.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhcDA7zHxVmbv83QgocHS9lYG5wpVT1ervBWT8LscVJ2FDFWkAm4kawebzCqM7tED-wzKOAOGXsQFxTG3QVLUMPaTNvJB2gVo5vwPFLiV7DYvU-vSHVTSbthbE6DiIkoVa1cdqEjzpH8O/s1600/google-maps-results-android.png" /></div>

Obscure Google Maps Results

When you add "google maps" or "map" to a Google query related to a location, it's likely that you'll see a Googl...

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Updated Dictionary Card in Google Search

Google updated the <a href="http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2013/08/google-updates-dictionary-onebox.html">dictionary card</a> and it now includes a message next to the big arrow at the bottom: "<i>Translations, word origin, and more definitions</i>". Probably many users didn't realize that the card can be expanded to show even more definitions and some additional information.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJZsHZtCsGgOXNgp4zL2alTeILvea05mes6yq16Qi6ma3WpHM84OB3proKWakCdzHSSIQUmh7B6cwcqmLrdrj0HdmzEi4krdCT4yVUvCcis6o1PhRHrV_RoMi8JY3DqEYzaqGj1vA5Bxgl/s1600/definition-box.png" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfmCuSXtYXWjtnBseSDIv2jcgOPbLywTWhtx2ozSPxHr7oEzvTzc6FwyIX89rOVA3DUBTrpoFdaw75EMzO8HSb3-n3fqyKN5rXrb5kMfizYPB0386qeoWoQjdrOftR3TD5mF-vTC6-WYqW/s1600/decoy+-+Google+Search.png" /></div>

Updated Dictionary Card in Google Search

Google updated the dictionary card and it now includes a message next to the big arrow at the bottom: " Translations, word origin, and...

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Creating Google Accounts No Longer Requires Google+

When you create a Google account, Google no longer <a href="http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-google-accounts-require-gmail-and.html">forces you to join Google+</a>. Google only asks you to create a public Google+ profile, but you can click "No thanks" and avoid upgrading to Google+.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2GjC4pd1YxoAdK3w-SH6l7OEWhyphenhyphenFuuPEVKgtWcFs36rwEj1VYHyPZhkUNRtEtjn1Fs7rEU6PNd660g_l1TXn0CInFSsxKUbrYRR11Fc2W9g67dqSE8kAAnLZKHHPbQuIJ8qPuK4KQsLvn/s1600/google-account-create.png" /></div><br />A Google spokesperson confirmed the change to <a href="http://qz.com/269285/google-is-finally-finally-giving-up-on-forcing-people-to-join-google/">Quartz</a>: "Users can now create a public profile during signup, or later, if and when they share public content for the first time (like a restaurant review, YouTube video or Google+ post)."<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim0gR9oAgPVRQXjDTxDjXg8BuDn6ItCHBEdAKQr0QNX3unqhULsIntS7h4w5nd5_b2C8PBr5NLrViBEu8MPMpzQ0FFGETXMNQAff2O0cVjYpkfBvZTvcwh_WtEivDfBHURi8u3BipAtvXB/s1600/create-google-account-sept-2014.png" /></div><br />Google has removed the "real names" policy and made Hangouts available to Google Apps users who don't have Google+ accounts. It's likely that Hangouts and Google Photos will become standalone apps that don't require Google+. As Google+ fades into the background, it's time to open Google's apps to everyone and transform Google+ into a social enhancement instead of a requirement.<br /><br /><a href="http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-google-accounts-require-gmail-and.html">Back in 2012</a>, creating a Google account from the Google homepage meant joining Gmail and Google+. Some time ago, Google added the option to use an existing email address and now you can bypass Google+.

Creating Google Accounts No Longer Requires Google+

When you create a Google account, Google no longer forces you to join Google+ . Google only asks you to create a public Google+ profile, but...

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